Maintaining the Boundary: Analyzing the Continuous Importance of Nonpartisanship for Croatian 'Second Wave' Advocacy NGOs

Abstract

Advocacy NGOs in Croatia often emphasize their nonpartisan identity, meaning that they do not publicly associate with political parties or declare their endorsement of electoral candidates. While such NGOs' behavior could be explained based on overall negative public perception of political parties, as well as funding conditions imposed by NGOs' donors, this article argues that the continuous nonpartisan identity of advocacy NGOs is further reaffirmed by a specific civil society discourse. Drawing on the analysis of in-depth interviews with senior members of nine Croatian NGOs, active in areas of human rights, the rule of law, and education, three relevant themes of civil society discourse reaffirming NGOs' nonpartisanship are outlined: (1) idea of civil society as an answer to malfunctioning state, (2) NGOs' legitimation based on autonomy and expertise, and (3) perception of political parties as an inherently limiting organizational form.